The hard work is beginning to pay off. Justin Humphreys appears to be on his way to becoming a regular member – or as regular a driver can be in NHRA’s highly-competitive Pro Stock category – of Sundays’ starting lineups.
The first-year driver from Monrovia, Md., is getting more comfortable in his RaceRedi Motorsports/ Knoll-Gas Energy Pontiac GTO at the same time crew chief Eric Luzinski and engine builder Richard Maskin are melding their chassis setups and horsepower production talents.
The results are showing. Humphreys has qualified in four of the last six races, including the last two stops at Norwalk, Ohio, and Bristol, Tenn. He was a semifinalist at Bristol Sunday and counts another semifinal finish (St. Louis) among the accomplishments of his first 12 Pro Stock events.
Now comes another stern test – the 28th Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, Friday through Sunday. Humphreys did test at the track that presents a once-a-year challenge of oxygen depravation for Pro Stock motors.
“We had the opportunity to test at Denver about six weeks ago so we do have some data to work with, ” Humphreys said. “The motor we used Sunday was our Denver motor so we were able to put some laps on it at Bristol, too. ”
Humphreys, 30, previously competed in Sport Compact and Nopi Series racing. “I’m having the time of my life, ” he said. “We didn’t expect to do much this year because it was our first one. Just to qualify is something else . .. but to get to the semifinals twice feels great. ”
He has made the 16-car starting lineup five times and missed four races by a total of 14-thousandths of a second – two-thousandths, three-thousandths, four-thousandths and five-thousandths. His best qualifying effort has been 11th.
“Everything is coming together, ” he says with a smile. “It just takes time. ”
Qualifying times at Bandimere Speedway are 4:45 and 7:15 p. m. Friday and 1:15 and 4:15 p. m. Saturday. Eliminations begin at noon on Sunday.
The remaining two races on the Western Swing will be in Seattle and Sonoma, Calif.
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